Why Do You Seek the Living among the Dead?
Introduction: As we journey from the death of Jesus to the nothingness of Saturday, to the joy of the Lord Jesus’ rising, we see a glimpse of our own journey from earthly existence to the joyful, heavenly relationship with GOD for all eternity. Jesus has provided us with this way to move into the fullness of life that awaits us with GOD, for Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Let us continue to celebrate our renewed relationship with the GOD Who is the relationship of Abba-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
According
to Jewish and Christian tradition, Sunday begins Saturday night after sunset. In
the darkness which begins Sunday, Christians assemble to keep a vigil for the Lord
Jesus. We reflect on the story of salvation, from the beginning of the world to
the third day after Jesus’ death. We wait in hopeful anticipation that the Lord
Jesus will keep His promise and rise. We look forward to new life, not just for
Jesus, but also for all of us.
The Easter
Vigil has four parts: 1) The Liturgy of Fire; 2) The Liturgy of the Word; 3) The
Liturgy of Water and Baptism and Initiation; and 4) The Liturgy of the Eucharist.
In the
darkness at the beginning of this vigil service, a fire is enkindled. It is the
Light of the Risen Christ. From this new fire, the Paschal (also called “Easter”
or “Christ”) Candle is lit. The Light of Christ is carried in procession into the
darkened church.
As the
Light of Christ is welcomed into the darkened church, each participant's candle
is lit from the Paschal Candle. Soon, all are enlightened by the Light of the Risen
Lord. Joyfully the Exsultet is sung as all stand in the Light of Christ.
The Exsultet is a hymn to the Risen Lord. It speaks of the necessary
sin of Adam which led to the promise of a Redeemer. It proclaims the fulfillment
of Hebrew scriptures in the coming of Jesus, the Light, the Life of the World.
In the
second part, the Liturgy of the Word, we listen to their history (story of Israelites)
being retold. Just as the Israelites retold, remembered, and relived (zikaron)
their story (Haggadah) each Passover, we tell our story – GOD’s story.
We see
GOD’s plan at work as the story is told. The story of salvation consists of seven
readings (each with a Responsorial) from Hebrew scripture. (For pastoral reasons,
these seven readings can be reduced to a minimum of three [usually # I. and # III
and one of the readings from the Prophets.) These readings tell our story, beginning
with GOD’s creation of the world until the final promise of a savior.
After
hearing our story as summarized in Hebrew scripture, we joyfully proclaim the Glory
to GOD, with bells ringing, as we transition to the Christian scriptures and the
continued story of our salvation.
It is
then that the full splendor of the church is demonstrated as all lights are turned
on and flowers and decorations become visible. We hear St. Paul’s words summarizing
the whole paschal mystery: our dying with the suffering Christ so that we might
share in the life of the Risen Christ. Joyously the A-word is sung for the first
time in over 40 days. Alleluia is the word that proclaims, “Praise
to the LORD” Who is now risen and living among us. This joyous word is called the
Resurrection Word. The Gospel of the Lord Jesus’ resurrection is then proclaimed.
The Liturgy
of Water and Baptism begins with asking the Holy Ones (Saints), who have proceeded
us into the glory of the Reign of GOD, to join us as we prepare to invoke GOD’s
blessing on the new water of Baptism and welcome new members into our Christian
community.
We recall
how water has had such a powerful position in our, or rather GOD’s, salvation history:
from the waters of creation to the waters of the Flood, to the waters of the Red
Sea, to the waters of the River Jordan. Water has been a sign of change from death
to life. The Paschal Candle of Risen Lord Jesus is placed into the waters and the
Holy Spirit is breathed into the water as we ask GOD to bless the water which will
bring new life to those who will be plunged (baptizo) and washed in
the water. A profession of faith is asked first of those who would be joining the
Christian community and then of the community as a whole. We recommit ourselves
to turning away from sin and evil and the deepening of our relationship with the
GOD Who is Abba-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Those
who were asking to be a part of this Christian relationship are called to the waters
of baptism and are “plunged” (baptizein) into the water where they
die to sin and are raised to the new life with the Risen Lord Jesus. They are then
clothed with a white garment to show their putting on Christ. They are given their
own candles that are lit from the Paschal Candle of the Risen Lord to symbolize
they have been enlightened by Christ and are expected to walk as children of the
Light. In receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation, the newly baptized are strengthened
and confirmed by the Holy Spirit using Chrism, the oil of dedication, the oil of
the Anointed One, the Christ.
The final
part of the Great Vigil is the celebration of the Eucharist. We continue to “eucharistize” (give thanks to) GOD the
Abba-Father by remembering (re-enacting - zikaron) Jesus’
giving of Himself as our food and nourishment. For the first time, our newest members
of the community join us at that table of the Lord Jesus. They join us in the prayer
of thanks and in receiving the Risen Lord. The vigil ends with a joyful dismissal
to take what we have celebrated and share with others the message of the Risen Lord,
Alleluia, Alleluia!
This is
the Great Vigil of Easter. Every time we participate in this ceremony, the greatest
of all liturgical services, we are humbled, excited, and re-enlivened. This year,
we look forward to the new life that GOD will give to all of us.
First Reading: Genesis 1:1-2:2
God saw all that he had made, and indeed it was very good
Commentary:
The
two slightly different accounts of the creation are not meant to be historical:
they can’t be! One difficulty is that it is now firmly established
scientifically that the universe existed for countless billions of years before
human beings existed to record what was happening. Another more obvious,
difficulty is that the sun and the moon are said to have been created only on
the fourth day: what could be meant by a ‘day’ without sunrise and sunset?
Nevertheless, they are true, in that they teach us significant truths, not so
much about what happened, but about ourselves today, our relationship to the
Creator, whom we call ‘God’, to our environment, and one another.
The author
who set up the account in six days plus one was obviously eager to show that
the Sabbath Day was part of the very constitution of the world. If even God
rests on the Sabbath, then so should we. God has noted that the creation of
each day is good and at the end of the sixth day God notes that it is all very
good, and we can join our thanks to the knowledge that creation is very good.
If God needs to relax and reflect periodically, so do we; it is in the nature
of things.
The order
of creation is not historical but real because logical. First come light and
dark without which we could see nothing. And the Hebrew day begins in the
evening, a survival from the ancient worship of the moon, which rises at that
time. The primeval, chaotic waters are already there, and into these God
inserts, like an enormous bubble, the two other main elements, the flat plate
of earth and a dome to keep out the waters – with sluice gates in the dome
for the rain, and holes in the earth for springs of water to spring up from
below. Then come the fixed things of earth and sky. There is nothing fixed or
stable in the sea, but vegetation on the earth. In the dome are planted sun,
moon, and stars; some had regarded them as gods, but our author merely gives
them the service of marking out the time for festivals.
The pace
of the creation account increases notably when we come to the things that live
and move in the three major elements of sky, sea, and earth, particularly the
last. God sees that even slugs and worms are good – and indeed each has a
vital part to play in the ecological system devised by God. But far the most
important comes in the final climax.
Before God
creates the human being, male and female together, there is a little
consultation, ‘Let us make Adam in our own image’, as though God is consulting
his heavenly court. Then the narrative springs into poetry or at least
rhythmical prose. There is no getting around the linguistic difficulty that
Adam must be either masculine or feminine, but at the same time, Adam is both
male and female, to be as one, both sexes are created as one common entity,
knit together in equality. ‘Adam’ here is a common noun; it has no gender and
denotes the human race as a whole. At least there is no ‘he’ and ‘she’, and
when Paul comes to describe Christ as the Second Adam it is as a new creation
of the single being, made up of men no less than women.
Together
they have dominion over the earth, but this is the same creative dominion that
God has. Their task and being is to fill the earth, to complete God’s act of
creation, by reproduction to be fruitful and multiply, in the image of God to
care for the earth and continue this act of creation. There is no hint of any
right to destruction or exploitation. There is even no killing for food, for
every green plant is given for food; it is only after the Flood (and by that
time there has been plenty of evil in the world) that permission is given to
kill: ‘every moving thing that lives shall be food for you’, not only the green
plants. Till then the peace of nature remains undisturbed.
It is not
a story of what happened long ago, but an analysis in story form of how we are
now, how we stand before God and God before us, how we stand to one another
(particularly male and female), how we stand to the rest of God’s creation. And
the last word is God’s, who blessed the seventh day and hallowed it.
The story
begins “in the beginning” – in Greek: Genesis. GOD wants to share the
relationship which is the essence of Who GOD is. The relationship that flows
within the Trinity is so powerful, that it is creative. GOD speaks, and it
happens. GOD creates what is good. The climax of creation is the sharing of
life with the humans who are created in the image and likeness of GOD. They are
called to be people of relationship, just as GOD is the GOD of relationship.
They are called to be in a relationship with each other and with GOD.
Psalm 104:1-2,5-6,10,12-14,24,35
Send forth your spirit, O Lord, and renew the face of the earth.
Psalm 104
echoes through the centuries, inviting us to contemplate the majesty and wonder
of God's creation. Through poetic verses, we are reminded of God's power and
creativity, from the heavens to the depths of the earth. As we await the joyous
proclamation of Christ's resurrection, this psalm sets the tone for our praise
and thanksgiving, acknowledging God's enduring presence and providence in our
lives. Let us enter into this sacred vigil with hearts filled with awe and
gratitude, as we anticipate the dawn of new life and redemption in Christ.
(2nd reading) Third Reading: Exodus
14:15-15:1
The sons of Israel went on dry ground right into the sea
Commentary:
It
is quite impossible to establish where this act of divine care for the People
of God occurred. One basic difficulty is in the names: the Hebrew text of the
Bible speaks of Yam Suph, the Sea of Reeds, which nicely fits the scenario of
the marshy lakes in the Suez area. On the other hand, the Greek text speaks of
‘Thalassa Erythra’, the Red Sea, which would designate the water separating
mainland Egypt from the Sinai Peninsula. Nor is it possible to reconstruct the
route from such texts as Numbers 11. We can only accept that this foundational
event of divine protection can no longer be placed under historical scrutiny.
The story
of the Exodus continues to show the covenant relationship GOD has with Chosen
People. They, in their slavery, have cried out to GOD. GOD hears them and sends
them a prophet (Moses) who works great signs to set them free from their
slavery. They journey through the waters of the Red Sea and are brought to
safety while the water destroys the evilness of those who have held them in
slavery. This image of water destroying evil and bringing new life to those who
travel through it is brought to full meaning in the sacrament of baptism.
Canticle: Exodus 15: 1-2,
3-4, 5-6, 17-18
Hymn of victory after crossing the Red Sea, I will sing to the Lord,
glorious his triumph!
The verses
of Exodus 15 resound with the triumph and praise of God's deliverance. This
ancient hymn of victory, sung by Moses and the Israelites after their
miraculous escape from Egypt, echoes through the ages, inviting us to join in
their exultant song of liberation and redemption. As we gather in vigil
anticipation, let us reflect on the profound symbolism of this passage,
foreshadowing the ultimate victory of Christ over sin and death. With hearts
uplifted in praise, may we enter into this sacred vigil, ready to witness and
celebrate the glorious resurrection of our Lord and Savior.
(3rd Reading) Seventh Reading: Ezekiel
36:16-17,18-28
I shall pour clean water over you and I shall give you a new heart
Commentary:
This
promise of restoration is part of the blessing promised to the mountains of
Israel. It comes to a climax in the promise of a new heart and a new spirit.
This is more complete even than Jeremiah’s promise that the Lord will bring a
new covenant, writing the Law upon their hearts (Jer 31.31-34), for in Ezekiel
he will remove their heart of stone and give them a new heart of flesh, thus
leaving no trace of their previous defilement.
The
motivation is significant: the Lord will do this for the sake, not of Israel,
but of his own great name. In the ancient world, names had especial importance.
The imposition of a name implied ownership of the person or object named. In
the Acts of the Apostles, new Christians are baptized in the name or even into
the name of Jesus; this gives them new significance. The change of a name
implied a change of function: so in giving Simon-Peter this new name Jesus
makes Peter the Rock of the Church. In the same way, the imposition of a new
name, ‘Israel’ at the crossing of the River Jabboq is part of Jacob’s conversion
experience (Genesis 32.28).
By the
humiliating fall of Jerusalem, the name of Israel’s God was shamed. Could not
this God protect his own people? Was the name of the God of Babylon more
powerful? Therefore, by the re-establishment of the people of Israel, the name
of the God of Israel would be re-established too, and would again receive
fitting honour.
GOD
reminds those who have been called by the LORD, that even if they have turned
away from GOD (a theos), GOD will remain faithful to the covenant relationship
which GOD has established. The LORD will renew the covenant relationship
because of Who GOD is – the GOD of relationship. GOD will pour out water to
cleanse the unfaithful from their sins. GOD will breathe the Holy Spirit into
them and renew them. GOD will replace the hard, stony hearts of the unfaithful
people, with hearts that are one with GOD. GOD has promised and GOD will
fulfill that promise – in Christ Jesus
Psalm 42:2-3,5,42:3-4
Like the deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul is yearning for you,
my
Psalm 42
invites us to journey through the depths of longing and hope. These verses
resonate with the soul's thirst for God, echoing the sentiments of those who
await the dawn of salvation. In the darkness of the vigil night, we are called
to reflect on our own yearnings for spiritual renewal and restoration. Yet,
amidst our longing, there is a steadfast confidence in God's faithful presence
and promise of deliverance. Let us enter into this sacred vigil, allowing the
words of this psalm to stir our hearts and lead us closer to the joyous
resurrection of Christ, the source of our ultimate hope and fulfillment.
Epistle: Romans 6:3-11
Christ, having been raised from the dead, will never die again
Commentary:
Paul
has just explained to us how Christ is the Second Adam, by his obedience
undoing the disobedience of Adam. The reaction may be, ‘But what has that to do
with me? How does it benefit me?’ The answer here given is that we were baptized
into Christ’s death so that we are joined to him and will be transformed by his
resurrection. The Greek baptizo means ‘plunge into’: we are plunged into
Christ’s death. Our life is now Christ’s life, though not yet transformed like
his. Paul coins a whole series of new words beginning with ‘syn-’ (a formation
similar to ‘synchronized’ or ‘synthetic’) to show how our life is merged into
Christ’s. The most expressive of all is that we are synphytoi with Christ: this
word is used in medical terminology to express how two parts of a broken bone
grow together again and merge into a bond stronger than the original. By my
baptism into Christ’s death, his death becomes mine. Christ’s story becomes my
story. Christ’s strength becomes my strength. Christ’s body becomes my body.
Christ’s risen life becomes my risen life.
In his
testimonial letter to the Romans, St. Paul summarizes what it means to be in a
relationship with Christ Jesus: We are baptized into Jesus’s death and our
sinful lives cease to exist, so we can be raised out of the waters to share in
the new life of the Risen Lord Jesus. Thus, we must consider ourselves as dead
to sin and alive with the Risen Christ.
Psalm 118:1-2,16-17,22-23
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Psalm 118
emerges as a resounding anthem of praise and thanksgiving. These verses echo
the exultant cries of triumph, celebrating God's steadfast love and enduring
faithfulness. Through vivid imagery, we are reminded of the Lord's saving
power, His victory over death, and the cornerstone of His divine plan. As we
meditate on these verses, may our hearts be filled with gratitude and joy, as
we prepare to witness the ultimate victory of Christ's resurrection. Let us
enter into this sacred vigil, ready to proclaim with confidence that "This
is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm
118:24), for He is our salvation and our hope.
Gospel: Mark 16:1-8
Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified, has risen
Commentary: The Gospel is a challenge and at various times people feel the need to protect themselves from it: Christians sometimes, pagans more often. One favourite technique of self-defence is to tell oneself (perhaps not in so many words) that the Gospels are a literary creation rather than an honest attempt at narrating exactly what happened. That way biblical scholars can study without listening, making careers out of deciding who influenced whom and who wrote which bit. The rest of us can defend ourselves from life-changing truths by reading the stories the way we would read any other work of literature.
The
synoptic Gospels’ narrative of the Resurrection shows how the Gospels
themselves defend themselves making such evasion impossible.
First,
there is their inconsistency. Whenever Matthew, Mark, and Luke are witnesses to
an event, they are slightly discordant more often than not. In this case –
Who exactly goes to the tomb? Who is it they meet there? One man in white, two
men in brilliant clothes, or an angel? The inconsistency is patent. On the
other hand, anyone who has been involved in a police investigation will tell
you that when witnesses disagree, that shows they are all being truthful. It is
when witnesses all agree in every detail that you know that someone has been
coaching them. So here, as throughout the synoptic Gospels, we can be certain that
we are not looking at a constructed narrative but a genuine effort to give a
truthful account despite the fact that everyone has remembered things slightly
differently.
The second
place in the resurrection narrative where anyone setting out to construct a
good persuasive foundation for a new religion could have done it better is the
whole mention of the women. In the culture and even in the legal system of the
time women were less reliable than men. Their testimony in a court of law was
arithmetically defined as carrying less weight than a man’s. Throughout the
Church’s history, indeed, one of the taunts against Christianity has been that
it is something only silly old women believe in.
Anyone
setting out to invent a new religion would take care to (a) make its foundation
documents consistent with each other and (b) base its greatest claim of all on
the evidence of people whose authority everybody accepts, not women.
And yet
the Gospel does neither of these things. This is because the Gospel is not
intended as the building block of a new religion. The Gospel simply wants to
say what happened: to tell the truth.
Mary Magdalene
and the other Mary come to the tomb early in the morning on the third day. As they
think about how they are going to roll back the rock covering the tomb, they discover
it has already been rolled back. They enter the tomb and are told by a young man
(messenger-angel) of the LORD GOD that the Lord Jesus Whom they seek is not in the
empty tomb, for He is alive and seeks to be in further relationship with His followers.
They are to go and announce this message to His disciples. These women become the
first to announce and experience that Jesus is alive, restoring our relationship
with GOD. Alleluia!!
Reflection:
Early
Sunday morning the women went to the tomb to pay their last tribute to a dead
body. The disciples thought that everything had finished in tragedy. Neither
were ready to see an empty tomb and hear the angel's message, "Do not be amazed;
you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen, he is not here;
see the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he
is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you."
(Mark 16:6-7). The angel urged them to believe that Jesus had indeed risen just
as he had promised. In joy then went to share the good news with the other
disciples.
Is it any
small wonder that it was the women, rather than the apostles, who first
witnessed the empty tomb and the resurrected Lord? Isidore of Seville, a 7th-century
church father comments on this: "As a woman (Eve) was first to taste
death, so a woman (Mary Magdalene) was first to taste life. As a woman was
prescient in the fall, so a woman was prescient in beholding the dawning of
redemption, thus reversing the curse upon Eve." The first to testify to
the risen Lord was a woman from whom Jesus had cast out seven demons.
What is
the significance of the stone being rolled away? It would have taken several
people to move such a stone. And besides, the sealed tomb had been guarded by
soldiers! This is clearly the first sign of the resurrection. Bede, a church
father from the 8th century, comments: "[The angel] rolled back the stone
not to throw open a way for our Lord to come forth, but to provide evidence to
people that he had already come forth. As the virgin's womb was closed, so the
sepulcher was closed, yet he entered the world through her closed womb, and so
he left the world through the closed sepulcher." (From Homilies on the
Gospels 2,7,24) Another church father remarked: "To behold the
resurrection, the stone must first be rolled away from our hearts" (Peter
Chrysologus, 5th century). Do you know the joy of the resurrection?
It is
significant that the disciples had to first deal with the empty tomb before
they could come to grips with the fact that scripture had foretold that Jesus
would die for our sins and then rise triumphant. They disbelieved until they
saw the empty tomb. Bede explains why the Risen Lord revealed himself gradually
to the disciples:
"Our
Lord and redeemer revealed the glory of his resurrection to his disciples
gradually and over a period of time, undoubtedly because so great was the
virtue of the miracle that the weak hearts of mortals could not grasp [the
significance of] this all at once. Thus, he had regard for the frailty of those
seeking him. To those who came first to the tomb, both the women who were
aflame with love for him and the men, he showed the stone rolled back. Since his
body had been carried away, he showed them the linen cloths in which it had
been wrapped lying there alone. Then, to the women who were searching eagerly,
who were confused in their minds about what they had found out about him, he
showed a vision of angels who disclosed evidence of the fact that he had risen
again. Thus, with the report of his resurrection already accomplished, going
ahead of him, the Lord of hosts and the king of glory himself at length
appeared and made clear with what great might he had overcome the death he had
temporarily tasted." (From Homilies on the Gospels 2,9,25)
One thing
is certain, if Jesus had not risen from the dead and appeared to his disciples,
we would never have heard of him. Nothing else could have changed sad and despairing
men and women into people radiant with joy and courage. The reality of the
resurrection is the central fact of the Christian faith. Through the gift of
the Holy Spirit, the Lord gives us "eyes of faith" to know him and
the power of his resurrection. The greatest joy we can have is to encounter the
living Lord and to know him personally. Do you celebrate the feast of Easter
with joy and thanksgiving for the victory which Jesus has won for you over sin
and death?
Lord Jesus
Christ, you have triumphed over the grave and you have won new life for us.
Give me the eyes of faith to see you in your glory. Help me to draw near to you
and to grow in the knowledge of your great love and power.
Daily
Quote from the Early Church Fathers: Christ
destroyed death to bring us life, from a sermon by Leo the Great, 400-461 A.D. "God's
compassion for us is all the more wonderful because Christ died, not for the
righteous or the holy but for the wicked and the sinful, and, though the divine
nature could not be touched by the sting of death, he took to himself, through
his birth as one of us, something he could offer on our behalf. The power of
his death once confronted our death. In the words of Hosea the prophet: Death,
I shall be your death; grave, I shall swallow you up. By dying he submitted to
the laws of the underworld; by rising again he destroyed them. He did away with
the everlasting character of death so as to make death a thing of time, not of
eternity. As all die in Adam, so all will be brought to life in Christ."
THE
EASTER OFFENSIVE: “Through baptism into His death we were buried
with Him, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the
Father, we too might live a new life.” —Romans 6:4. Alleluia! Jesus is risen!
The stone is rolled away! The tomb is empty!
The Lord
of Life has decided to destroy Satan’s culture of death right now on this
Easter Sunday, in this Easter season. Our risen Lord has had it with abortion,
racism, war, starvation, contraception, and other injustices. He has decided to
get several hundred million Catholic Christians in hundreds of thousands of
locations throughout the world to stand up to Satan and publicly reject Him and
all his works and promises in this culture of death. This massive mobilization
of Catholic Christians to launch a major offensive against Satan is called the
renewal of baptismal promises.
Many of
you may doubt that this is what happens when we renew our baptismal promises.
We renewed them last year and in previous years, and nothing seemed to happen
on a grand scale. Yet how many Catholics knew what they were doing in renewing
their baptismal promises? How many took this seriously? Maybe there’s much more
power in the renewal of baptismal promises than we have ever experienced or
imagined. Let us renew our baptismal promises not in “corruption and
wickedness” but in “sincerity and truth” (1 Cor 5:8).
Prayer: Father, make me an extremely effective
witness for the risen Christ (see Acts 10:41). “Everyone who believes in
[Jesus] has forgiveness of sins through His name.” —Acts 10:43. “He is not
here; He has been raised up” (Lk 24:6). Alleluia!
The personal action for today: As I reflect
on the history of salvation as celebrated in the Easter Vigil, what stands out the
most for me? Do I experience the plan of GOD being revealed through the readings
and the liturgy, and in my life? How can I die more to sin and live a life that
proclaims the Good News of the Risen Lord Jesus? What can I do to help others experience
the salvation that comes through Jesus’ death and resurrection?